Snapshots
by soul vacation
Summary: Genma finds Hayate asleep at his desk again, and this time, he decides to stay and watch him for a little while. (GenmaHayate, fluff, one shot)


_Snapshots_

Somehow, Hayate had managed to fall asleep at his desk again. Lately, it seemed the only place he managed to get a decent amount of rest was there, with his face propped up on one arm, and stacks of papers piled to the heavens on either side of him. In an odd little way, it was kind of endearing, especially when he started to drool just a bit. It wasn't anything disgusting, really, and rather reminded Genma of the way a little boy would sleep with his mouth open and snore and do God only knew what else. In some ways, he supposed Hayate was a bit childish, but it wasn't annoying. Very few things about Hayate annoyed him, he'd come to find, which was a rather peculiar fact. 

Genma made it a point to be at least a little bit annoyed by everyone he knew. Life was just easier that way. If you were too amiable and determined to get along with everyone, there wasn't any spark to your conversations, and it was very easy to fall into a vicious cycle of the same interactions. If there was one thing that he couldn't stand, it was being bored, which was really just too bad. People tended to bore him often. 

Hayate didn't though, which was what puzzled him slightly. There wasn't anything really remarkable about the man, and if they were to just pass one another on the street, Genma was certain he wouldn't look twice. Well, save for the fact that Hayate looked like he was dying every time he drew a breath. He imagined that must put a serious cramp in the man's social life. 

Of course, if he was the sort of guy that could fall asleep at his desk in the midst of doing paperwork at such an ungodly hour of the night, then he probably didn't have much of a social life to begin with, anyway. 

Lips twitching slightly, Genma watched as Hayate frowned faintly in his sleep and shifted, burying his face deeper into the folds of his sleeve. Apparently, he was having a bad dream, or maybe his body was trying to wake him up and he wasn't ready for it yet. In any event, there was something undeniably cute about the way his headband slipped up over his forehead and bunched atop his head. There was a lot of give now, and it would be very easy to just reach over and pluck it off. 

So, he did. 

Genma had never really been a man to ask permission for much or care if he offended people, and so he didn't think twice about his action, even though it could have mortally offended Hayate had the other man known. In his own case, if someone had dared to untie his own headband and turn it around in their grubby little hands, he might've had to rouse himself to deck them or something. He didn't consider this, however, as that was him and this was Hayate. 

Hayate was a much gentler person than he was. Not to mention, it would just be damn funny if the sickly jounin leapt up and started pummeling him. He might forget to be offended in the middle of laughing, as it seemed so uncharacteristic. 

Amused by his thoughts, Genma focused on the hitae-ate and ran his thumb along the metal consideringly. It wasn't smooth by any means, and there were several dings in it, though nothing that would be noticed if you weren't directly looking for them. How interesting, really. He hadn't thought of Hayate as the sort that would be in a lot of fights, but that was just ridiculous in and of itself. They were both jounin, weren't they? That meant they had seen their fair share of battles. Hayate wasn't any different from the next man simply because he had a chronic cough and looked like he badly needed a dose of sun. 

Flipping the headband over in his hands, Genma paused and arched his eyebrows at what he found. There were... pictures, tucked up inside of it. Curious, he reached inside and dug one out. 

It was faded and clearly very old, but the person featured was unmistakable. He had to have been about six or seven, with his hair combed back in a style that was both easy to manage and somehow looked cute. Even then he was sickly, with deep smudges under his eyes, but somehow he seemed happier. He was smiling at something. 

Peering closely into the background, Genma tried to pick out who it was, but he couldn't. Obviously this little picture had gone through the wash one too many times. He had just been getting interested, too, and that was a shame. For some reason, he wanted to know what had put that sweet, innocent little smile on Hayate's face. 

"Interesting," he murmured, slipping the picture back into the folds and moving on to the next one. It was in a better condition, as if more care had been taken to preserve it. That, or it was more recent, though he doubted it. 

This time, Hayate was a teenager, all gangly limbs and awkward angles. Genma smiled slightly to himself as he observed the self-consciousness in his stance, and the way he was trying desperately to avoid the camera. Idly he wondered why Hayate kept all these pictures of himself if he didn't like having his photograph taken. Was he a closet narcissist? That was an amusing thought. 

He could make out another figure in the distance of this one, however, one that he recognized well. He saw himself leaning against a gate, one hand raised as he emphasized some point or another in a heated debate. It was funny to see an image of his past, back when he'd thought long hair not only looked good on him, but was somehow stylish. How misguided he'd been. 

That ponytail had almost been the death of him, if he recalled, and more than once he'd been tempted to just chop it off and toss the hair in the trash can. Why hadn't he? Genma couldn't recall now. It might've been some ridiculous fashion trend or something of the sort, though he was hesitant to admit to being so simple-minded as to be guided so easily by fads. He'd been young then, though, and so a little bit of stupidity was allowed now and again. 

Thinking no more of the fact that he was in the picture, Genma slipped that one back in its place and examined the third for a moment, silently. It was the last picture that he could see, and judging by its condition, the most recent. Would it be another of Hayate? If it was cute, he might be tempted to keep it. 

He paused before removing the photograph. Where had that thought come from? 

How curious. So he was attracted to Hayate. That was certainly different. 

Allowing himself a moment to let this register, Genma decided that it wasn't a bad thing at all. He'd just ask Hayate out for some dinner or something. The worst that could happen, would be for Hayate to take it completely platonically. The best, well, maybe he'd see it as a date. 

Genma didn't date often, because it was just too much of a hassle. But he'd make an exception for Hayate. There was something about him that made Genma reconsider his asexual state of mind and take a chance. It wasn't as though he was thinking of taking the guy home to meet the parents, after all, so if things went awry, he could go back to his blissfully single state unaffected. 

Grinning to himself, satisfied with his decision, Genma brought the final photo up for inspection and honestly did not know what to think when he saw it. There was no Hayate to be see in this. Rather, it was a very recent picture of Genma himself, one that he suspected he'd been unaware of when it had been taken. It was in one of the rare moments where he had his headband off, and he looked like he was brooding, of all things. 

Nope, he definitely wouldn't have approved of this picture. He didn't even have a senbon in his mouth. 

"That one's my favorite." 

Genma was startled by the quiet, gentle statement, and he did little more than stare for a moment at its source. Hayate was very much awake, sitting back in his chair with an odd expression on his face. His hair, normally bunched under the fabric of his headband, fell haphazardly into his eyes in a most visually distracting manner. Genma had a sudden urge to push it back behind his ears so that he might get a good, clear look at the face his hair was hiding. 

Instead, he focused back on the picture again, pursing his lips as he did so. It was an uncommonly nice picture of him. A good angle, and it made his jaw look stronger than it normally did. He wondered idly what he'd been so pensive about, but he couldn't remember. Obviously it hadn't been that important. 

"Yeah?" He shifted his senbon to the other side of his mouth, arching an eyebrow at Hayate. 

A small smile surfaced. "Mm hm. I was birdwatching, and happened to see you on top of the roof. You don't mind, do you, that I took the picture?" 

Genma wanted to be irritated, just mildly, but he was finding it difficult, especially considering who he was dealing with. It would be bad enough to pick on Hayate, given his perpetual state of illness, but he was looking adorably rumpled and had fabric marks across one cheek. He couldn't find it in himself to snark at the younger man, and so he gave up. It was too much trouble to work himself up if he wasn't into it. 

Removing his senbon, he tucked it away in one of the pockets of his jounin vest. He didn't particularly feel like chewing on it right then, and he couldn't have pegged exactly why if asked. The simple fact that he didn't want to was enough for him, however, and he left it at that. 

Overanalyzing life led to all sorts of nasty realizations, many of which he could do without entirely. 

He glanced over and found that Hayate was still watching him, eyes patient and somewhat curious at the dely of a reply. He shrugged one shoulder. "Guess I don't care. Though I look strange without my headband on." 

The other jounin laughed softly, though it didn't last, as the mirth quickly turned into a cough. Genma's brows knit together as he watched Hayate cover his mouth, his shoulders shaking slightly with the effort to contain the cough. 

"I'm sorry," Hayate finally managed, smiling apologetically. 

"Don't be," Genma replied, holding out the headband with the pictures inside, save for the last one. "It's not like you can help it, right?" 

"No, I can't." Hayate accepted it with a murmured 'thank you' and fitted it back on his head. 

Genma held the picture of himself up once again, frowning slightly. He didn't want to keep it, exactly, but he didn't know how he felt about someone else having it. To look like this in a photograph... well, the only thing he could think of to compare it to would be standing around completely naked in broad daylight. 

_That_ would have been hilarious to find tucked away in Hayate's headband. 

Feeling generous all of a sudden, likely because of the mental images that last thought conjured, Genma offered the photograph with a smile. "Here, you can have it, if you like it. I don't really want to cart around a picture of myself anyway." 

"Thank you." Hayate smiled suddenly, brightly, as he accepted the picture. 

Resting one hand on his hip, Genma asked, "Why do you have a picture of me, anyway?" 

Hayate was halfway through the motion of slipping the picture back under his headband. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, why d'you keep that one with you?" 

Hayate finished securing the picture away and patted the side of his head once before rising slowly, tidying a stack of papers as he did so. He looked vaguely amused as he replied, "They're all of you, didn't you notice?" 

Genma blinked rapidly a few times. 

Faint color dusted the dark haired man's cheeks, bringing a startling contrast to his pale skin. "Ah, well, I really need to be getting home. It's rather late." 

Hayate attempted to step quickly around him, but Genma moved directly into his path, studying his face intently for a moment. So Hayate had a little bit of a thing for him. If he thought about it, Genma _had_ seen himself in the background of that one picture, and for all he knew, he could've been in the first one, too. He had thought it odd that Hayate would carry around pictures of himself, hadn't he? So it made infinitely more sense that he would be carrying pictures that had someone _else_ in them. 

He'd already decided he was attracted to the other man, too. So the next part should be easy as pie. 

Looping one arm securely around Hayate's waist, he tugged forward, one corner of his mouth turning upward slightly at the surprised "oh!" he received in reply. When Hayate didn't shove him aside or make any motions to go anywhere, he assumed there weren't any problems. 

"This is really too bad," he said conversationally, as Hayate's arms came up around him. 

"What?" 

He paused a breath away from Hayate's mouth, amusement lacing his tone as he said, "We don't have a camera for this one." 

This time, the laughter wasn't silenced by a cough, but something infinitely sweeter. 

_Come what may, come what may   
I will love you until my dying day   
Oh come what may, come what may   
I will love you_

Come What May (Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor) 


End file.
